QUIET - Climbing Class

i

Josh attempted to rub the fatigue from his eyes. Glancing at his digital clock next to him, he sighed.

2:04.

He passed out again.

There was a surge of loneliness that enveloped his body for a moment, before he sat up and shook his head. 'That's no good.' He knew the exhaustion wouldn't go away any time soon, his head was pounding and cloudy and he wasn't exactly sure what happened this time, other than the fact that he had pulled an all-nighter two days in a row.

Yet again, when did he know what was happening? Josh guessed that he ended up having some sort of breakdown again, which wasn't a surprise to him. A sigh escaped his lips.

Jumping off his bed, he approached his door before quietly grabbing the handle and opening it. The air outside his room smelled a bit cleaner, but the pounding in his head was still there and almost had him reeling at this point. He ran a hand through his messy, chocolate brown hair that was slightly longer than normal due to no cuts in a few months.

No one lived in the Washington manor anymore, with him as an exception. Josh's father was usually off to some other state or country for business, and his mother usually followed after him, probably wanting to avoid being stuck with her own son. Josh also ended up letting go anyone who was hired to work around the house, assured them he'd be able to handle it just fine. He was lucky enough to actually be able to, somewhat and usually kept the place pretty clean, as large as it was. Josh was taking his meds normally as well, which he considered a good improvement on his part. His hallucinations didnt appear anymore. Every time he even considered going off them, he remembered what happened last time and decided against it as best as he could, even though he still skipped a few days every once in a while, but it was usually because he forgot.

He's setting reminders for himself now.

Stepping downstairs and towards the kitchen area, he figured he'd get himself something to drink. Some soda sounded good, as bad as it was for him, he knew the carbonation would feel absolutely wonderful.

Josh walked in, opened the fridge and peered in. Some ginger-ale was sitting on the shelf, almost as if it was waiting for him. If Hannah were here, he was sure she'd ridicule him about how he needs to cut down and drink something healthier for once. He breathed out heavily through his nose in some sort of half-laugh, and grabbed the bottle before pouring himself some.

This house was quiet ever since they disappeared. It was already bad enough the first year after it happened, but it only got worse when he was saved from the mines and returned home.

He didn't talk to many people anymore. His actions were more subdued, quiet; he wasn't as outgoing as he used to be. Matt and Emily didn't even try to talk to him after what happened, not that he necessarily minded; the air would've been awkward around them anyways. Ash, Jess and Mike tried a few times after things started to calm down. Sam and Chris still tried their hardest to stay in communication with him, but he was almost always unresponsive. He'd deleted all social media accounts, there was no way to contact him other than through text and he almost always ignored them nowadays.

Glancing around the kitchen, Josh realized how dark it truly was around the house right now. How the hell did he even make it down here without busting his ass? He almost laughed to himself at the thought of doing so, before taking a huge gulp of his soda.

He knew he was sad, he completely knew he was lonely, so why didn't he try to reach out to anyone? Probably because it was his fault. The pain in his head resurged, making him wince and bring a hand up to his temples.

Carrying his drink back upstairs and into his bedroom, he turned his bedside lamp on and sat there for a moment. 'It was my fault. It was my fault. It was my fault.' The words began repeating and overlapping in his mind, only making his headache worse. He hated this.